Cancer, late career changes and car crashes - the most inspirational stories of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympics have thrown up many great sporting stories but equally a number of tales of athletes battling against adversity just to get to Beijing. Focus often remains on those who win medals and break records and these achievements are certainly not to be ignored. Ad/> However, there is also room to highlight the tales of courage and bravery from those who are taking part against the odds, and here are some of the most inspiring from this year.

Beijing 2022Opinion — There is no reason why Team GB should not be a powerhouse on ice2 HOURS AGO Max Parrot “A shining example of resilience” is how snowboarder Parrot was described after securing an emotional gold in the men’s slopestyle final. The Canadian’s journey to glory came with one of the biggest obstacles in the road when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma just months after winning slopestyle silver in Pyeongchang in 2018. After going through 12 rounds of chemotherapy, Parrot was given the all-clear and was able to return to action in late 2019.

Slopestyle and big air success in the Winter X Games followed but his crowning glory has undoubtedly come in Beijing, where, in addition to his gold, he also added big air bronze to his medal collection. Although his slopestyle success came with some controversy after a missed grab during his routine wasn’t spotted by the judges, nothing will ultimately detract from his remarkable story. “It was never an option for cancer to beat me,” Parrot said, after a score of 90.96 points was enough to claim gold in the slopestyle.

“But, for sure, I was scared a lot of the time. You don’t know how the treatment is going to work. You don’t know what life has got in store for you.